A Journey for Love
by Cettie-girl
Summary: This is a story I wrote a couple years ago for school. My own characters, plus a couple classic ones.


Once upon a time, in a far away land, there lived a King. This king was King Hanz, the most powerful man in the entire world. King Hanz and his wife, Queen Danni had many sons and daughters. One in particular, Princess Launa was very unique. She had golden hair, fair skin, blue eyes and a wonderful smile. She was beautiful, intelligent, talented and kind. She was always willing to help others and so when her 16th birthday came, she had been proposed to thrice but each man left without a bride, as King Hanz never gave his blessing.  
  
One day, as Princess Launa was tending her garden, full of sweet smelling and wonderful tasting things, she heard a voice calling her to come, as she had a long journey ahead of her. When Princess Launa turned around, she saw the most gorgeous woman she had ever seen.  
  
"Who are you?" asked the Princess.  
  
"Why, I am your fairy godmother, my dear," was the woman's reply. "I am here because you have been kind to many people and yet have not once been in love and so I am here to give you this, if that is what you wish."  
  
"Oh, it is, it is!" was the Princess's joyous response.  
  
"Than you must leave this palace go to the Enchanted Forest where after a little hard work, you will find a handsome prince. You will be away for a month so be sure to say goodbye to your family. I will come tomorrow at sunset to escort you to the entranceway but you must travel alone for the rest of the journey. See you tomorrow Princess Launa," and with that, she disappeared leaving Princess Launa to prepare herself for the journey to a far off land.  
  
The next day, at sunset, the fairy godmother came as promised and after a few last goodbyes, they were off to the Enchanted Forest. When they arrived at the Enchanted forest, the fairy godmother gave Princess Launa a magic pot, that would fill itself with food when the princess became hungry and a small piece of paper with five words written on it. The fairy godmother warned her that there would be many dangers and that this spell would help her but it would work one time only. No more, no less. Before leaving Princess Launa, the fairy godmother gave the former directions to reach the palace on the other side of the forest and then vanished.  
  
As Princess Launa entered the Enchanted Forest, she looked around. Everything looked fine until a dark figure appeared directly in front of Launa. It was the Keeper of the Forest, a person who was rumored to have done many evil deeds. He vanished as quickly as he came, leaving Launa to continue, until she heard a loud voice from behind her saying;  
  
"Sorry to bother you but have you seen a little girl in a red cape?"  
  
She looked behind her and saw the big, bad, wolf.  
  
"Why aren't you asking me where I'm going and telling me about a shortcut?" she asked, as she loved reading fairy tales.  
  
"I'm not really that bad a wolf you know," was his reply, "I only do it because her mom wants Little Red to not listen to strangers. I really don't hurt anyone as the grandmother and the woodcutter are in on the plan and do their part to help teach her this important lesson."  
  
"Okay, I guess I was wrong. Haven't seen her though so I'll be on my way," was the Princess's reply.  
  
"Goodbye Princess," were the wolf's last words before disappearing into the shadows of the Enchanted Forest. This made the Princess curious as she wasn't wearing anything that a common person wouldn't and she had never revealed that to him. So why did he know who she was? While thinking about this, Princess Launa saw the Keeper of the Forest again. This time, he was holding a magic staff. As she came closer, he pointed it towards her as if he were going to put her under a mystic spell but just as he was about to use it, she ran behind a thick bush. After being there for a few seconds, Princess Launa looked around and the Keeper of the Forest was gone.  
  
A week went by. Princess Launa was still travelling and thanks to the magic pot, she was in good health. She had had a few more close encounters with the Keeper of the Forest and was starting to wonder who the latter really was. Was he really as bad as he seemed? If so, why would he always disappear whenever she came up with a quick solution instead of waiting for her to come back out? These thoughts and more were running through Princess Launa's head when she heard another voice.  
  
"Run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!" and sure enough, he was. However, Princess Launa wasn't very hungry and knew that she must continue her journey and so, after warning him about the fox, she was on her way again.  
  
"Thanks Princess" was the farewell of this 'candy man' before running off into the Enchanted Forest once again. Moments later, the Keeper of the Forest appeared with the staff again. As he approached her with it, she ran behind a line of trees and looked for a safer hiding place. When she had found one and was running to get behind it, she saw that he had escaped into the forest again. This proved to Launa that she had a mystery to solve. Who was the Keeper and why did the people from other fairy tales know her name? Also, why did the Keeper of the Forest always come after the others left? Princess Launa knew that these must be somehow connected, but how?  
  
Another week came and went. Princess Launa was now on the third week of her journey. She was still all right but she was starting to feel a bit weary of her long journey. While taking a short rest, she heard a voice with another question for her.  
  
"Have you seen a wolf around here?" asked the third little pig. "He said he'd meet me here in an hour and so I'm here early. I'll be going soon though as soon as I see him coming."  
  
"Well, he's not here yet but you'd better finish up whatever you're doing quickly if this isn't your first time doing so," was what Princess Launa said, being the fairy tale reader she was.  
  
"Actually, it's the third time so thank you for the advice. By the way, you are almost finished so don't give up Princess Launa," the pig responded.  
  
"How do you know who I am?" Princess Launa asked but it was too late. The pig, like everyone else, was gone before she could ask him or her about this queer phenomenon.  
  
Before she could say or think anything else, she saw a light coming from directly in front of her, about a mile away. As she came closer, she found out that it was coming from a torch in the Keeper of the Forest's hand. When he saw the Princess coming, he dropped it and ran off, causing flames to start spreading. Princess Launa stood still in shock and helplessness. Then she remembered the spell. She quickly retrieved it and read out the words.  
  
"Chauntes, rabes, womnes, quantess, goodness," and with that, the fire was extinguished. The Keeper of the Forest came toward her unarmed. This time, it looked like he didn't have anything up his sleeve and so she allowed him to approach.  
  
"Congratulations! You have proved yourself worthy as our fairy godmother said you would be," he said.  
  
"Who are you and what do you mean?" asked Princess Launa.  
  
"I am Prince Alonzo. You must be Princess Launa," he said, unmasking himself and showing her his face. "The fairy godmother told me to watch for you and to prove that you were a wonderful person. The other people who you met with are friends of mine and were helping me to make sure that you were honest and kind while I did the rest. You see, the real Keeper of the Forest is locked in my dungeon and will be staying there for a long time."  
  
"Yes. That is right. I see that you two have gotten introduced already. How do you like each other?" asked the fairy godmother, appearing to the left of this happy couple.  
  
"I love her dearly," Prince Alonzo said, gazing into the princess's eyes.  
  
"I feel the same way about you," was Princess Launa's reply.  
  
In a week, they were married and they lived happily ever after. 


End file.
